Growing Room
by Tempus Nocturne
Summary: Because Sakura didn't really become stronger until the others uprooted and left her alone in the gardenbed. Short, light conversation between Sakura and Kakashi, interpret it however you will, before Naruto came back from his training. Revised.


Panting lightly, sweat coming dangerously close to dripping into her eyes, Sakura paused in her training—which was swiftly becoming more destructive to the surrounding area—only to readjust her gloves. She strove every day to outdo herself, to make Tsunade-shishou and Kakashi-sensei proud. Maybe even Naruto and Sasuke…

However, just as she was about to deliver another chakra-infused practice punch to the ground, she felt a familiar presence appear, very suddenly, a few feet behind her. Turning to the tall, silver-haired man, she grinned widely, green eyes sparkling with sunlight and energy.

"Kakashi-sensei. How are you?"

His uncovered eye crinkled up in a way that told her he was smiling back. "Yo." He glanced around at the destroyed remnants of what used to be foliage. "You might want to be careful, Sakura, or there won't be any trees left in Konoha."

Rolling her eyes, Sakura strolled past him towards the clear stream that ran nearby the training grounds, Kakashi casually following. Running her hands through the cool water, she allowed it to pool in the palms of her hands, splashing it on her face and slicking back her short hair. A refreshed smile gracing her visage, she flopped tiredly onto the ground and glanced over at Kakashi, who was leaning carelessly against a nearby tree.

"How was your mission?" she asked, noting calculatingly that he was putting more weight onto his right foot than on his left.

He shrugged.

"It was successful. I just reported to Tsunade-sama this morning."

"And she probably tried to coerce you into having that foot looked at, only to have you obstinately refuse," Sakura surmised, gazing at him with narrowed eyes as he shifted sheepishly. "Kakashi-sensei! You need to stop doing that. One of these days you're going to contract some kind of infection, and then you'll just have to stay at the hospital longer than you would've needed to originally!"

She sighed, though, knowing that she wasn't about to change the man's habits with a few words—just look at how little success she'd had with his Icha Icha Paradise obsession!—and pushed herself up into a sitting position. "At least let _me_ look at it."

Kakashi looked for a moment like he was about to resist, but then he apparently decided against it and sat down obediently beside her, stretching out his left leg. She rolled his pants leg up past his knee and gently removed some bandages that were haphazardly wrapped and now caked with dried blood. As soon as she'd peeled them off, a steady flow of fresh liquid started leaking from the wound, the pin-sized marks surrounding it indicating a failed attempt to manually close it.

"Poisoned kunai?" Her brows furrowed, ever-so-slightly, as she tsked at him disapprovingly when he confirmed her suspicions.

Gathering her chakra carefully, she slowly extracted a small ball of toxin from his bloodstream, then worked on cleaning and closing the gash with the medical supplies she always kept in her pouch. A rather short time after it began, the healing process had ended, and Kakashi rolled his pants down again, testing out his leg. Sakura had done a wonderful job, he thought to himself, a little sadly. She noticed the look in his eye and immediately adopted one quite similar.

"Does it still hurt?" she asked, a tiny bit putout.

"No, it feels as good as new," he reassured her quickly, and her expression immediately brightened. "I was just..."

His sentence was left unfinished as a far-off look glazed his face.

"Just what?" Her eyes had widened in a cutely innocent way, concern evident on her face.

"It's nothing."

"Oh," she sighed, eyes downcast. There was a slight pause before she spoke again, softly. "Kakashi, when do you think they're coming back?"

He froze, realizing that she'd picked up on what he'd been thinking anyway. She always was perceptive…

"Naruto and... Sasuke?" he asked, cautiously, wondering exactly how stable her emotions were on this topic.

She nodded, still looking downward.

"I don't know," he sighed. "But you know... you've become strong." Her head raised up somewhat, eyes hopeful. "You don't need to rely on them anymore." Sakura's face took on an even more glowing tinge at this praise.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "But... I still need them. As friends," she hastily clarified. "I miss them both so much..."

As her arms encircled her knees protectively, Kakashi could not help but nod in understanding. He, too, had missed having his entire team all together.

A quick glance up at the sky seemed to suddenly pull her out of her daze.

"Oh! Is it noon already? I have to meet Tsunade-shishou!" She stood, brushing dirt off of her oversized black shorts and tight red tank top. "She said she was going to give me the Chuunin exam forms today!" Sakura's face was alight with joy once again as she beamed at her former sensei.

"Ah, yes. You're planning on trying it again?" Sakura nodded entusiastically. "When is it?"

"It's coming up in about two months. I'm going to team up with Ino and Choji, since Shikamaru isn't exactly going to be retaking it with them." An excited look crossed her face at this prospect—she had rekindled her friendship with Ino after Sasuke left, training with her and her team from time to time. "Well... see you around, Kakashi-sensei!"

His eye followed her as she darted off, snatching up her scattered weapons along the way. _Sakura_, he thought, _you really have become strong—and in more than just the physical aspect. I just wish I hadn't missed seeing it._

A little sigh passed through his lips, vanishing into the wind as he did, in a manner most befitting of the copy-nin.

A/N- Just an idea that popped into my head during class... I thought it would make a cute little one-shot, so... here we are. Yup. You know you want to press that lovely review button down there and tell me what you think!


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